In manufacturing processes, such as in automobile construction, multiple individual parts are designed, fabricated, and assembled together, to form a whole. When the individual parts are designed, it is important to ensure that a certain level of clearance is provided between parts that are to be assembled together, i.e. that they do not overlap or interfere such that they cannot be assembled together.
Clearance measurements are typically done when the parts are being designed, and using software that can manipulate the parts to virtually assemble the designed parts. However, these nominal parts do not always correspond to the actual parts that are fabricated, especially in assembly-line fabrication processes, where errors are often introduced randomly, either by human error or the use of imprecise equipment.
When the actual parts are then assembled, interfering or overlapping parts must be discarded, thereby increasing the overall costs of manufacture. Accordingly, there is a continuing need to provide improvements in this field.